


we’ll be good company

by hallsballs



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: A little sprinkle of hurt/comfort, Because I need to spread this agenda, Daichi is tired but he let’s himself dragged into chaos so, Except Daichi is a firefighter, Fire, Fluff, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Implied Kenhina - Freeform, In terms of their future professions, M/M, Manga Spoilers, Nonbinary Akaashi Keiji, Oh my god this is an actual tag I’m so happy, Rated T for language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:35:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28419978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hallsballs/pseuds/hallsballs
Summary: "Daichi liked the variety his job had, from obvious heart-wrenching cases he would like to forget like saving burnt or even lifeless bodies over to doing silly things like getting a cat off a tree. Chaotic ones such as pumping water off a flooding house or him and his colleague trying to recruit new potential firefighters by informing them what their work contains or answering their questions.And sometimes, the reason someone would call him and his team is extremely barmy and belong to the category of “Cases which start out dramatic, but we would love to tell people 60 years later and laugh about it.”Or: Daichi has a case of fire in the night and proceeds to meet two interesting people.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Bokuto Koutarou & Kuroo Tetsurou, Kuroo Tetsurou/Sawamura Daichi
Comments: 6
Kudos: 32





	1. chapter one

**Author's Note:**

> This is mainly self-indulgent because I need more Firefighter!Daichi fics.  
> English is not my first language, so let me know if you find any errors!  
> I hope you enjoy. :)

Daichi was aware about what he had gotten himself into, when he decided to move to Tokyo to pursue a career as a firefighter after his graduation from University.

That job came in a huge package of a very heavy theoretical and practical education, a phase where he’d forget to eat something because his head was deep into books, if it weren’t for the constant reminders from his family and friends, and a nerve wrecking exam, but it eventually was worth it and payed off very well.

He was holding the official legitimacy to become a firefighter in his hands, and he probably had shed tears of joy on that day, as he was glad that the hard work was not for nothing. The next thing he did was applying for several stations in Tokyo and managed to succeed on his second interview, getting the job instantly.

The move from Miyagi from Tokyo was something Daichi was worried about at first- what if the whole process is somewhat chaotic, like some of his furniture mysteriously vanishing, or what if the apartment wasn’t like on the pictures and the following viewing, what if, what if... 

He only calmed down when Koushi announced that he’s planning to move to Tokyo as well and asked him if they should just become roommates. Although not feeling at complete ease, knowing that his best friend was present helped the whole process being smoother. 

Daichi liked the variety his job had, from obvious heart-wrenching cases he would like to forget like saving burnt or even lifeless bodies over to doing silly things like getting a cat off the tree. Chaotic ones such as pumping water off a flooding house or him and his colleague trying to recruit new potential firefighters by informing them or answering their questions.

And sometimes, the reason someone would call him and is team are extremely barmy and belong to the category of “Cases which start out dramatic, but we would love to tell people 60 years later and laugh about it.”

It seemed like today’s case would belong to the last section, as he unexpectedly got the emergency call at 2:30 in the morning despite having a free night after some busy night shifts.

Daichi had already worked for six months at this point, hitting well with the new colleagues and the leader of the fire department. There really wasn’t a day where he thought his decision was reckless or stupid. He loved being a firefighter and would continue pulling his all into it.

Which meant also getting cases at 2 am.

Daichi groaned, especially after thinking shortly about the bizarre dream he had. He was dreaming something spectacular about his former upperclassman doing something stupid that had led him come back to Miyagi to deal with it. Sometimes, Daichi thought that Tanaka’s and Noya‘s ideas would escalate so hard that he had to get involved at some point. The thought was always amusing hm.

Because of the short reminiscing of his former upperclassmen, Daichi had shortly forgotten why he was thinking about it in the first place. Luckily, his phone was chiming again, and he reacted quickly by pressing the ‘accept’ button.

“Hello?”, he answered with a groggy voice, which was still thick with sleep. He was hoping for a peaceful night, but sadly the wish was not granted when he heard the voice of Sazuku, one of his colleagues.

“Sawamura, we have a case of fire in an apartment. Normally we would have let you sleep since it is your free day, but apparently the apartment complex where the fire is occurring is only two streets away from your place”, she started, her voice sounding hectic, while he heard the noise of people running and the loud siren in the background.

“Alright, I’ll head there to help out”, Daichi just replied, not giving much thought into it. He would always say yes to a case, no matter the time or how light or heavy the circumstances would become.

After a quick “Thank you!” from Sazuku and getting the address to head to, he ended the call and jumped out of his bed, but still being careful to not make much noise while making himself fresh in the bathroom and getting into his gear.

He didn’t want to risk waking Koushi up, especially when his best friend had to get up very early- Daichi already got to experience the consequences once and needless to say that it wasn’t something he desired to see again. 

After carefully closing the door to the shared apartment behind him and running downstairs to the front door, he was welcomed by a very harsh and cold breeze of the wind howling across the empty streets. The lights were dim, almost like they were going to lose their energy any minute and put the street into darkness. Almost every window of the apartment complex was dark, safe for two and Daichi asked himself what the people were still doing at three in the morning.

Daichi tightened his big and bright orange jacket around himself and quickly ran across the street. The street name Sazuku gave him was only about three minutes away and after two or so, he could already hear the big commotion going on at the place, filled with siren, yelling and the noise of one of his colleagues trying to extinguish the fire.

Luckily, it wasn’t an escalating one, even though Daichi could still make out the thick black smoke coming out from one of the windows in the darkness. He approached Shirogane, who was responsible to escort the residents of the apartment safely to the outside.

“Shirogane!”, Daichi called and went directly into business. “Are there any details yet? Clues on what had caused the fire?”

His colleague sighed in defeat and Daichi suddenly got the suspicion that both are going to suffer a massive headache in the next few minutes. And judging by Shirogane‘s face, it was not because of the fire itself What possibly could have happened for his usual calm colleague looking annoyed?

“The full details aren’t here yet, but the two young men standing over there are the ones living in the burning apartment. “

Daichi hummed and looked at the direction Shirogane‘s index finger was pointing at. His eyes found the two men his colleague was talking before, their outer appearance indicating that they’ve must have been sleeping already when the fire broke out. 

Especially the taller, lanky guy looked like he was into a deep slumber before he got harshly waken up, his hair being all over the place and almost making him look like a rooster. But the other, buffer guy also had an interesting hairstyle, black and grey streaks alternating, though the grey colours are dominating. 

Both were dressed in simple shorts, tank tops and their slippers and Daichi asked himself how the hell are they currently not shivering thanks to the cold temperatures. They almost looked like the cold didn’t bother them, maybe they were just glad they have managed to escape the fire and couldn’t care less about the chilly sensation now.

The two were also in a heated argument, Daichi assumed it from the wild gestures they were using. Especially the slightly smaller black-grey haired man was using his limbs more than it was probably needed, probably to prove a point about something.

As Daichi was starting to approach them, he could her faint snippets of their discussion.

“And I tell you, if you had more patience and actually waited until tomorrow, I would’ve helped you cook your stupid meal!”, rooster yelled.

“And I thought I already made myself clear that I needed to get everything done by 10 in the morning, so I had to prepare tonight!”, zebra snarled back, his hands. now positioned on his hips.

“Who the hell waits until the last moment to prepare their anniversary present?!”

Oh no. Daichi felt like he knew what the issue was. And he wasn't quite sure if he's going to like anything that would occur in the next few minutes. He considered going back to Shirogane and let him handle the somewhat chaotic guys, when he realised, he was already too close. So close that the roommates eventually notice the firefighter and stared at Daichi in confusion.

Rooster's expression changed from puzzled to almost smug, he was almost leering at Daichi. At least, that's what the latter wanted to think, because another option would be something more uncomfortable.

Daichi cleared his throat and decided to keep his professional demeanour in front of them. He had some questions to ask after all.

“You two are the two residents from the apartment that’s currently the reason all of us are here? My colleague already mentioned it, but I still wanted to confirm.”

“Bro, you know this doesn’t make sense, right?”

Somehow the reply was surprising Daichi more than he initially thought.

"Well yeah, but that's just for the report. You have no idea how many mix-ups are happening because people tend to ignore one seemingly unimportant or unnecessary step."

Saved.

“Whatever, I guess. Yes, we are living in that apartment and the cause for that ruckus. The name's Kuroo Tetsurou by the way, the guy next to me and the one who's responsible for all of this is Bokuto Koutarou.”

The other guy-Bokuto, Daichi now knew- immediately started to yell again.

"What was that, you dumb cat?!" Cat? Daichi thought in confusion. In what way does the rooster-like appearance correlate with a cat?

“Bro don't bark at me like that! Whose idea was it to cook for his partner even though he has the talent of a fish?!" Kuroo snarled back, clearly unamused, and unbothered by the yelling from his roommate. How he managed to stay calm while looking like he was about to explode was almost fascinating.

"But Keiji deserves the absolute best, so I tried to prepare something perfect for them! What is so hard to understand my intention?”

“I don't think they would appreciate you burning our home and the whole complex down just because you wanted to surprise them. Next time gift them a stuffed owl or something in that direction”

Because he felt like their useless discussion wouldn't find an end both parties would be satisfied with the outcome and because he'd really liked to go back into his warm and cosy bed, Daichi decided to put an end to this and to intervene their discussion right now.

"Alright", we announced, clapped once with his hands, and tried to hide the exasperated tone in his voice.

Both Bokuto and Kuroo halted their argument and spared Daichi the attention he needed right now.

"You can discuss your cooking skills and the presents you like to gift your partner once we have finished, but for now I just like to have your attention.”

“Whatever you want”, Kuroo rustled and winked at him. Daichi suddenly had the urge to beat him up.

“First of all, let me get you something warm, like a blanket. How come you’re not shivering? Even I put about three layers on and I’m slightly shivering.”

“Maybe we have different standards about warmth, that’s why we can endure more than you do”, Kuroo replied, but Daichi didn’t miss the way he wrapped his arms around himself a few moments earlier and how he was switching from one foot to another.

“You’re not hiding it very well, I can clearly see you trying not to freeze yourself to death”, Daichi remarked. He turned around to find Shirogane, wo was still occupied with taking care of the other residents. Seeing him being busy and probably not being able to bring a blanket for the cat in the next few minutes, he sighed and decided to just take his own jacket off. 

Maybe thinking about his bed will keep him warm, Daichi thought as he was handing it over to the surprised Kuroo.

“Here, take this. We don’t want you to turn into an ice block, right?”

“I’m not quite sure if I can just take it. Besides, if the dumb owl has no problem with the cold, then I can endure it too.”

Daichi gave a quick glance to Bokuto, who now had his phone in his hands and seemed to excitedly text someone. Probably his partner, he thought. He also did notice the owl-like appearance the guy had, after Kuroo stating it, Daichi realised his hair being shaped like this of a Great Owl, and his eyes even were gold-like. Bokuto didn’t hear the snarky remark his roommate made, being still engrossed with his phone.

“Just take it”, Daichi sighed. “Please, can you just cooperate, so we can wrap everything up and go home.”

“That’s funny for you to say, my kitchen has been burned down”, Kuroo grunted, but finally took the jacket of Daichi’s hands. Their fingers brush for a short moment and the latter did try his best to not jump at how cold Kuroo’s fingers were. He was turning into a brick quicker than he had thought.

Daichi’s jacket looked a bit too big on Kuroo. Even though the other was taller than him, Kuroo was also slightly skinnier and the jacket was already reaching his upper thighs. It left an uneasy feeling in Daichi, who sometimes thought he weight too much. As someone, who liked to eat a lot and still did his best to burn these calories, he was still self-conscious about his weight.

But then Daichi decided to spare a glance at Bokuto again, at the buff, very muscular Bokuto who would probably manage to let the garment explode. Of course, the owlish man wasn’t fat, but the shape he was in would let Daichi come to the conclusion Bokuto was spending his time training or practising something with sports. 

“-o? Broooooo. Hey! Why are you spacing out!”

A hand was now moving right in front of his face, catching Daichi’s attention. He quickly stopped starting at the still texting Bokuto and instead focused on Kuroo’s half worried, half smug face. How embarrassing and unprofessional, he thought, suddenly starting at another person like some predator.

To cover up what happened earlier, Daichi cleared his throat and decided to ask his question as programmed. 

“So, you’ve said that there’s the possibility of the whole apartment burning down. Do you and your roommate have family or friends to stay over, since your current place will be not habitable for a while?” 

“Yeah, yeah”, Kuroo replied with a bored face. “Bokuto is definitely going to ask his partner, and while the latter will chide him for causing a fire, there’s no way they won’t take him in. That, or he asks some of his teammates. As for me, I’m going to ask my childhood best friend.”

“Kuroo grinned. “Knowing him he’s going to decline first but eventually say yes.”

“That’s actually relieving to hear. Now that we have cleared that, how about you’re finally going to tell me what exactly happened?”

Kuroo snuggled deeper into Daichi’s big jacket and looked like he would rather take it off than actually oblique Daichi’s demand, but the taller guy eventually gave in.

But not before telling Bokuto to “Stop focusing on your phone and Akaashi all the time and face the consequences of your doings instead!”

And Daichi thought he didn’t see it right, but did Bokuto’s hair suddenly deflate after hearing Kuroo’s words? It didn’t look spiked anymore, almost as if someone had poured rain into his head and washed the gel off it. Strangely fascinating.

“It just occurred to me that you haven’t told us your name”, Bokuto said, putting his phone back to the pocket of his shorts. He still looked like the cold didn’t bother him at all, it could’ve started to snow, and the guy would still not show the faintest shiver.

“Ah. Right”, Daichi nodded. “I can’t believe I didn’t do it sooner! I’m Sawamura.”

Both men stared at him expectantly. When Daichi started to furrow is brows in irritation, Kuroo said with a smirk: “That’s nice and all, but what’s your giving name?”

“I don’t remember myself being close to you, so Sawamura should be enough. And since were already at it, how about you stop calling me bro? Come on, we’re not some high schoolers anymore”, Daichi retorted, making Bokuto cackle at these last words while Kuroo simply huffed and waved his hand in dismission.

“Whatever.”

“Now let’s finally get into the causing of the fire, what happ- “

Daichi had to suppress the groan he was about to let out when someone interrupted his demand by putting their hand on his left shoulder. He turned around to face Shirogane, who held a blanket, probably for Bokuto. 

“Yeah?”

“The fire had been successfully extinguished, and we’re now going to the other residents back to their apartments and check if there’s any damage? Will you keep dealing with the two men?”

“Only because you and the others clearly don’t want to”, Daichi mumbled to himself, hoping he was quite enough, but judging by Kuroo’s offended gasp and Bokuto’s “Hmpf!”, it wasn’t the case.

“What do your colleagues have against us?”, Kuroo whined as they were making their way towards the building. Daichi was glad about the warmth that’s surrounding them any second, he did start to freeze a little.

“I don’t know, maybe you have managed to piss them off? I wouldn’t be surprised”, Daichi simply retorted.

“How dare you! Not to brag or something, but next to you is walking one of the kindest people you’ll ever meet.”

Daichi decided to only response with a flat stare.

“Whatever. While we’re making our way to your place, do me a favour and finally tell me what happened. I can’t believe it’s been almost an hour and I still haven’t gotten the details!”

“And how is that our fault”, Bokuto grumbled. “Sawamura, you seem like someone who easily gets into another person’s shenanigans.”

“Oh, hell no!”, Kuroo sputtered “You’re the last person who’s allowed to bring that sentence.”

“Just tell me what you idiots did in your kitchen or so help me!”, Daichi barked in exasperation, making the two close their mouths, and probably interrupting another dispute.

The three were now entering the building, the light being so dazzling Daichi had to close and squint his eyes for a few seconds. He saw Shirogane giving him a pitiful smile before entering an elevator behind some residents, Daichi’s only reaction was to huff.

The security person who was sitting at the entrance looked like they can’t be bothered by anything, as if a fire and a following evacuation would occor every other day. Daichi was almost amazed about how laidback they seem. 

“Okay, you’ve left quite left an impression with your slight threat, I’m going to start”, said the voice behind him. Daichi turned around and immediately felt like he was staring at the two men for the first time.

He’d already made an outline of how they looked when they were outside, but now that the dim streetlights weren’t the only source of light anymore, he could clearly make out their eye colours, and he thought they were beautiful. He even thought that Bokuto looked more like an owl, his eyes almost shaped like the bird’s ones and having the golden colour intensifying with the lights.

Kuroo’s right eye was still lightly covered by his bizarre bed head, but the left eye was exposed, a golden eye observing him. Daichi also noticed the slight eye bags under his eye, indicating that Kuroo hadn’t gotten much sleep.

Kuroo smiled at Daichi warmly when he took off the latter’s jacket and handed it over. 

“Thank you for lending it to me, Sawamura. If it weren’t for you, I would have probably turned into some brick already.”

Daichi was too occupied staring at Kuroo’s eyes, that he had missed the words said to him. But can anyone blame him? The smile the bedhead gave him differed drastically from the teasing one, it was a smile Daichi liked to see on more occasions, because it was simply beautiful.

“Sawamura! Are you so tired you’re spacing out at any given moment?”

And gone was the sincere smile. Daichi wasn’t able to answer, because Kuroo decided to push the jacket into his arms, looking slightly irritated about something.

“Well, yeah. Keiji’s and my anniversary is tomorrow- well, technically speaking today- and while I haven’t forgotten our special date, I wanted everything to be perfect. So, I decided to practise the things I wanted to cook for them this night”, Bokuto had started, Daichi was glad that he now could shift his attention onto him. He wondered if Kuroo had noticed his not-so-subtle staring, but the other’s expression was just blank.

“Should we take the elevator or the stairs?”, Bokuto asked, after looking at the mass of people and Daichi’s colleagues entering the next one. 

“Well, I saw from the outside how high your place is, thanks to the smoke around it. Should we really take the stairs?”, Daichi inquired back, trying to hide the hesitance in is voice. He normally wouldn’t have anything against climbing some stairs, but for some reason he felt fatigued from just thinking about it.

“Don’t you worry!”, Bokuto replied in glee, pointing his fingers at himself. “If you start to feel exhausted, just tell me so and I’ll give you a piggyback ride to our place! “

“Huh?”

“By the way, Bo is serious with his offer. You should probably take it the minute you get exhausted.”, Kuroo added.

“And as a famous volleyball player he has the stamina and strength, so don’t even think you’re being a bother to him!”

Daichi didn’t know how to respond to that. But what he knew is his cheeks starting to heat up and why the hell was he blushing now, he needed to keep his professionalism!

Even though he felt like it got thrown away the minute he started to interact with the chaotic man.

“Carry on with your story while we see how many stairs I can take”, he ordered. With that, he passed the flood of people trying to enter the lift (and hoped that the thing would carry everyone to their designed destination) and set his foot on the first stair. 

“Alright. I wanted to surprise my partner with a very extraordinary dinner, with starter, the main menu and the desert. I had everything planned out, only chose Keiji’s favourite things to eat. But I still wanted Kuroo to help me since he’s the better cook. Sawamura, he had the audacity to deny my request!”

“Are you kidding me?”, Kuroo interjected. “I spent the whole day at work and just wanted to rest a little. Besides, who decides to prepare at midnight!”

“Midnight?”, Daichi asked.

“Yup. See, I was lounging on our sofa, trying to end my day with a bad film and something light to drink. And then this buffoon opened the door to our kitchen around 12:20 am, with his dumb owl aprons and asked me to help him. Wait, he didn’t ask, he straight up demanded!” 

Kuroo puffed his cheeks while retelling the story, clearly getting worked up again. Daichi can’t have him or Bokuto getting distracted again by starting to fight, so he added: “I assume you’ve told him you’re going to help him tomorrow.”

“Exactly,” Kuroo confirmed. “He tried to bribe me with his big and pretty eyes, but I was too worn out to even look at his recipe. So, I left the kitchen and went back to the sofa. I mentioned that I was watching a film, right? I was such a horrible one, I managed to fall asleep.”

The story goes on with Kuroo waking up at two thanks to the smoke detector shrilling. Bokuto, who went to the toilet and forgot to turn off the heat had obviously prepared something that would catch a fire quickly. His roommate read the situation within thirty seconds and was directly sprinting to the phone to call the fire department.

“I can’t believe it took me almost an hour to get the information out of you”, Daichi huffed. He was slowly starting to feel tried from all the stairs, but apparently, they haven’t reached the final destination yet. He felt like they were already on the 20th floor, but one look at some hallway confirmed just the half of it.

Daichi’s legs started to feel numb, and he could already sense the sweat prickling on his skin. He was a fit guy; he really was, and it was a requirement to have a solid stamina. But going all these stairs was too much. Were they even coming forward or why did it feel like they were still at the first floor?

“Are you alright?”, Bokuto asked, when Daichi’s breaths became short-ragged and he halted more than often to lean himself at the wall to not exert himself for a short period of time.

“Yeah, yeah”, Daichi waved it off. “How many floors are left? Depending on that, I might just take the elevator to our destination.”

“But I told you- “

“Bokuto, that’s just too weird.”

“So, you’d rather collapse when we eventually arrive than take Bokuto’s offer?”, Kuroo grinned. “Come on, don’t be so conceited, we’re not telling anyone about this.”

Daichi’s answer was just another huff. Fuck it, he didn’t care anymore. It was still early in the morning, and he still desired to get into his bed in the quickest way possible. Maybe he should put a notice on his door, so Koushi would let him sleep for another blissful hours.

“Fine, carry me”, Daichi relented, looking irritated when Bokuto started to beam. He didn’t understand why the owl was smiling about, or was it just because he was helping someone?

After Daichi had made himself comfortable on Bokuto’s back (which was actually very soft, thanks to his buff body), the whole process of getting up the stairs was easier. Bokuto was chatting about how he would let his partner ride his back too when they’re tired (apparently Bokuto never chooses to ride with the elevator, Daichi was stunned).

He looked to the side, where Kuroo was next to him, face pointed at the ground, yet Daichi could still make out the frown on his face. He was about to ask if everything’s as alright, when Kuroo suddenly perked up and said with a smirk: “I took the audacity to take a photo, this needs to become my wallpaper!”

“Wha- “, Daichi started, but got interrupted but the taller guy’s snicker and Bokuto’s enthusiastic “We have arrived!”

“Figures”, Daichi mumbled. It was easy to find out which door belonged to the chaotic roommates. The floor was still having the strong odour of smoke and his colleagues’ utensils were spread around the place. Also, the door leading to the apartment was wide open, so he figured he didn’t even need their help to find the right apartment.

After Daichi stood on his foot again, he entered the apartment like it was his own place, the two following him. It smelled way worse than outside, but he couldn’t make out any damages on the entrance and living room.

Daichi turned to Kuroo, who stared at him with wide, curious eyes. “I assume you didn’t open the door to your kitchen after hearing the alarm?”

“Of course not!” he replied. “Isn’t it like common sense?”

“You would be surprised how uncommon that is. But people do fear of someone being in a burning room, so they tend to check again. As harsh as it sounds, but the possibility of a person being burned in the room is high and opening the door would only lead to more casualties.”

“Oh, Sawamura, that’s so cruel! How can you say that with a stoic face!”, Bokuto complained. His offended gaze suddenly turned sad and regretful; his hair did the thing with loosening its posture. “To think that I could be the one- “

“Don’t even think about it”, Kuroo interrupted harshly. “You weren’t in the kitchen, so do not think about any other scenarios, Bo. And I can’t believe I didn’t ask before, but how are you feeling after every has calmed down? It must have been a shock for you.”

Because he felt like he was intruding a private moment, Daichi decided to make his move into the apartment. Especially after hearing Bokuto starting to sniff and falling into Kuroo’s arms as a response to the latter’s question, he decided to inspect the kitchen.

As expected, it looked horrible. The whole room was engulfed in black smoke and soot, even after turning the lights on. Utensils were burned into a crisp, on the stove was the pot that had started everything and the window being open didn’t change the sting smell that was creeping up Daichi’s nose.

The whole kitchen needed to be replaced, he concluded, that much was obvious. At least their door kept the job of holding the rest inside, so Daichi couldn’t make out any major damages in the dining room, just the floor being decorated with black soot.

“Okay, we can finally wrap everything up, Daichi announced after leaving the kitchen. Looking at Bokuto’s face, he noticed the redness of his eyes and traces of tears on his cheeks and wondered how the man was coping. Kuroo didn’t look much better, Daichi couldn’t decide whether it was just him being tired of if he had shed some tears as well. 

Hoping that he can lift the mood a bit, he announced: “The kitchen is obviously damaged, at least none of the other rooms had caught the fire. I am certain an insurance will cover up for the damage and a new kitchen. I also want the clear up that the stove was too old and couldn’t fit the standards, so it might be another factor for the fire. I’d suggest talking with the landlord about the issue.”

“Thank you”, Kuroo simply nodded.

“Of course. So, I’ll be tanking my leave. But before that, I would simply like to make clear that none of this is your fault. Bokuto, I can assume were excited by your anniversary and simply got distracted and Kuroo, it’s perfectly fine to fall asleep because of tiredness. Accidents like this one do happen, especially when you cannot control it. I hope you’re not beating yourself up over it. Well then, have a nice night- or whatever is left of.

Not even awaiting any response, Daichi hurried out of the apartment, feeling the relief when he smelled the fresh, clear air after being outside again.

One look at his watch told him it was almost four AM, and if he had the imagination, he could already see the sun beginning to rise. Daichi yawned twice as he approached Shirogane, who also looked ready to go home.

“Thank you for assisting us”, his colleague said. “You’ve done a lot with helping out.”

“Is that so? I’m pretty sure it was nothing”, Daichi shrugged.

“Yeah, you have dealt with the two weird roommates, that much is enough.”

The phrase made Daichi furrow his brows. He detested badmouthing. And the fact that Shirogane decided to do so, without even bothering to start a conversation with them made him furious.

Sure, they were chaotic and Daichi assumed both knew that. But who would willing offer to carry someone they have only met an hour ago on their back? Daichi knew Bokuto was a kind person. Apart from that, the efforts he made to surprise his significant other on their anniversary was also sweet.

And Daichi couldn’t forget Kuroo’s smile after giving him the jacket. Despite trying to tone it down, he knew the taller guy was grateful for his offer. Kuroo seemed to be a person who deeply cared for his friend, also showing it by scolding when necessary. And the smile he gave Daichi was one to die for, but that was something he wasn’t ready to admit yet.

“I thought the safety of our citizens is more important than how they seem to present themselves”, Daichi finally said. “Maybe you are the one who needs a lecture.”

The silence and the guilty look that followed after Daichi’s said sentences were satisfying. 

  



	2. chapter two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some assumptions, questionable decisions, a moving, several people pining and lots of appreciation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this chapter is all over the place ;-; but thank you for bearing with me! This chapter is from Kuroo's POV and I have decided to make 4 in total.

“Bro. Is there going to be one day where you’re not longing about that one fireman, we have met weeks ago?”

Tetsurou blinked furiously at his best friend. Bokuto was sitting across of him on his chair, his mouth being full of the onigiri he had brought from his short trip to Osaka. Apparently, it was a present from his volleyball teammate Atsumu, whose brother was running an onigiri store. Bokuto swore his creations were the best rice balls he had ever tasted, and nothing would compare to Miya Osamu’s ever since “the faithful day I took the very first bite!”

Right now, Bokuto had an expression of both bliss and worry on his face, though the face of enjoyment was quickly overshadowing as he took another bite.

“Kuroo, you need to taste them! Myaa-sam’s Onigiri are just too godly to ignore. But well, if you’re not going to eat them, it just means more for me.”

“Don’t you dare”, Tetsurou growled and slapped Bokuto’s already stretched out hand away from his food. He ignored the following pout appearing on Bokuto’s face and instead grabbed the onigiri on his plate.

Tetsurou wasn’t expecting much, but as soon as he took one bite of the rice ball, it was like all the times he had eaten any onigiri from any store got replaced with the newest memory. Perfectly cooked rice filled with avocado and cucumber and held by seaweed - the fact that such simple ingredients could evoke pure perfection was something he would like to experience again. Tetsurou closed his eyes as he bit into the rice ball the second time, almost moaning by the incredible taste.

“Told ya!”, Bokuto grinned at him. His face was probably giving the confirmation his best friend needed. To be fair, Tetsurou thought Bokuto was exaggerating when he was praising Miya’s onigiri creation, but then again, him and Akaashi were like experts, eating at least twice a week from several stores until they had encountered Miya.

“These are really good“, he confirmed. “Tell Miya he needs to expand his business to Tokyo, our city needs his store I really didn’t thought his creation would taste this amazing!”

“I highly doubt that’s happening in the near future since he’s preoccupied with his store in Osaka, but I’ll gladly let him know”, Bokuto nodded, wiping his fingers clean with the tissue placed next to him before he grabbed his drink.

“Seriously. It almost feels refreshing eating something that’s not out of a can or some bag. I’m getting tired living with just instant noodles or rice without any special vegetables or fish. Plus, it’s not healthy for you either.”

“No can do”, Bokuto sighed. “They really said that installing a new kitchen would take like four weeks!”

Since their whole kitchen had burned down and everything got unusable, Tetsurou and Bokuto were trying to get creative with their meals with just the rice cooker and the water heater they had bought. Living off with the similar creations of dishes and fruits really wasn’t the lifestyle Tetsurou liked, but luckily both of them earned enough money to eat dinner at a small restaurant every other day.

Still, Tetsurou was awaiting the day they finally get their new kitchen installed, after the people responsible for the job had cleared the soot of the kitchen. Not only was he tired of not eating properly, he also had enough of keeping the windows wide open and sleeping with several layers since the nights were cold. And it still felt like nothing had changed since then! The strong smell of smoke and the burned plastic caused him headache every day, and even though Kenma had offered to let him stay over until everything was finished, Tetsurou declined it. Everyone was left confused when he kept saying no the offer, but he wouldn’t dare explaining why he was strictly against it.

Bokuto seemed to sense something though.

Stupid Bokuto, Tetsurou thought. If it weren’t for him and his talent to get distracted easily, none of this would have happened. He loved the guy and his sharp thinking, but all of this could have been avoided if he had just taken another look at their stove. But Tetsurou kept asking himself if he was also partly at fault, since he was vehemently against helping his best friend cooking on that day. No matter the time, shouldn’t he be just here for his friend and this attempt to give his partner the best anniversary ever? Who knows.

“By the way, you haven’t answered my question yet”, Bokuto began again. There he was again with analysing things and coming to conclusions. If Tetsurou wasn’t playing his cards right, Bokuto might actually figure out the reason behind the whole ordeal of not staying with Kenma.

“Nothing”, he said, while putting his most blank expression he could afford on his face. “I wasn’t thinking of the firefighter at all. Why would I even spend my time on someone I have only seen once?”

“I don’t know, maybe it was love at first sight for you. When I met Keiji for the first time, I spent the rest of the day thinking about them, a possible future and how I’m going to convince them to adopt an owl”, Bokuto shrugged. The suspicious glances he kept giving Tetsurou were not diminishing a bit, so maybe he wasn’t the best at hiding his intentions at all. Bokuto surely got better when it came to reading another one’s feelings – the results of both being friends for a long time.

“Actually, I was weighing up how drastically my life is going to change as soon as you leave the nest. You’re moving to Osaka soon, meaning the end of a long era. I really can’t imagine living without you anymore.”

Gone was the questioning gaze, replaced with a pout. The way Bokuto’s facial expression could change within minutes was something Tetsurou found fascinating. And it was true, he was going to miss his best friend and dreading the fact of not having his loud, boisterous nature around anymore, someone he knew he could always disturb at any hour, even when he was in a deep slumber.

Tetsurou was going to miss the late-night chats and adventures, the occasional discussion and fights and their game nights with the other friends. He was so used to always having at least one person around, that thinking about living alone, even if it was just for a while, seemed impossible for him.

“I mean, you could also move to Osaka,” Bokuto tried to relent, even though he already knew Tetsurou’s answer.

“We’ve been through this for so many times, please don’t bring it up right now.” And to indicate he didn’t want to spend the next few minutes talking about himself or firemen, Tetsurou grabbed the biggest looking onigiri and shoved it into his mouth. This time, it was filled with salmon and he found himself being on cloud nine. Miya’s hands are godlike creating something appetising like that.

“How come you haven’t finished your share yet?”, he asked after he had used his hand to wipe off the excessive rice hanging around his cheeks. Bokuto’s plate was surprisingly still filled with four onigiris and Tetsurou knew his best friend. They should have been inhaled about ten minutes ago.

“Keiji’s coming over and I want to surprise them. They haven’t eaten Myaa-sam’s onigiris in a while!”, Bokuto replied with his trademark grin.

“While that’s adorable, you are ready to save some for your partner yet still wanted to steal mine?” Tetsurou shook his head in disbelief.

“Yup!”

* * *

After Akaashi came over and managed to inhale said rice balls within eight minutes, the three opted for going out for dinner in a nearby restaurant. Tetsurou asked Kenma to join them, but his other best friend declined with the reason of having someone over. He made a mental note to grill Kenma about the mystery person the next time he saw him.

Their dinner went without any major events, Tetsurou enjoyed eating grilled mackerel with rice and listening to Bokuto’s anecdotes about his team and their shenanigans. The cold beer next to his plate was adding their bits of becoming looser and eventually not caring about the other patrons, as he stared to cackle at something Miya Atsumu did.

“While it was a hilarious encounter for our fans and teammates, Tsum-Tsum really didn’t share the sentiment”, Bokuto finished. Tetsurou calmed himself down, especially after he eventually registered the annoyed stares from the guests next to him and wiped the tears of his faces with his hand.

Akaashi had their hand rested on their chin, eyes staring longingly at Bokuto. They were too occupied listening to Bokuto’s story, or their appetite wasn’t high today. Either way their plate was still half full and on top of that, the food must have been cooled down, but Akaashi didn’t seem to care.

“Wasn’t he the one who kept gloating about his serves”, Tetsurou said with an amused grin. “No wonder that guy’s spirit got shattered.”

“He’ll get over it”, Bokuto simply shrugged. His eyes fell on Akaashi’s plate and Tetsurou could see them starting to sparkle.

“Keiji, are you already full? You haven’t eaten much!”

“Huh?!”, they stammered, and Tetsurou was surprised about them not realising they’ve spent the last ten minutes ogling at Bokuto.

“Oh, I guess, I am. Seems like Myaa-sam’s onigiri were enough for me. Here, help yourself, Koutarou.”

“Thank you Keiji!”

While Bokuto was occupied with the new gained food, Akaashi decided to rest his eyes on Tetsurou. The latter immediately felt the need to defend himself from whatever they were going to ask him.

Bokuto was already perceptive, but compared to Akaashi, he was easily outdone. They were able to obtain the tiniest secret out of anyone by asking the right questions and being extremely observant while the victim was careless. It was a trait Tetsurou hated, especially since he could never win against them.

The piercing gaze Akaashi gave him was sending shivers down his spine. Tetsurou sat straight up and tried to maintain the carefree and nonchalant composure he had until a minute ago. However, he was internally screaming inside and wished for Akaashi to simply hurry up with their upcoming interrogation, so he could leave some of his nervousness behind.

"I talked to Kozume yesterday”, they finally began. Bokuto halted his current activity of shovelling the food into his mouth, as he seemed to get what his partner was implying. His expression became omniscient and the intensity of two people staring at him continued to be prominent. Yet, it was still not the time to become openly nervous.

Tetsurou wondered if Akaashi and Bokuto were regularly talking to each other about Tetsurou’s decisions and if they were able to extract any important information of Kenma. No matter how trivial it seemed, especially Akaashi was good to take out the important details.

“So you did? What has Kenma told you about me?”

“Look, Kuroo-san, I don’t understand. I spend roughly two hours at your place when visiting Koutarou and the headache I’m receiving is massive. How are you able to withstand the horrible smell of smoke and burned plastic for several weeks? On top of that, what if you develop a serious illness?”

“Aw, does that mean you care about me?”, Tetsurou cooed, tilting his head to the side, and positioning his hand under his cheeks to show that he was in fact- in awe. Akaashi closed his eyes for a short period, seemingly searching for a response. But he knew they were internally rolling their eyes.

“Well, someone has to since you clearly don’t.”

“Look, I don’t understand why everyone keeps prying about me wanting to keep staying at our home. You’re right, it is currently unbearable, but I can still hold it until it finally gets renovated. Besides, Bokuto is staying with me, I don’t get why nobody is jumping him?”

“Koutarou decided to keep staying with you since you will be separated from each other in few weeks. Do you really think I haven’t tried to talk him out of it?”

“Is that so”, Tetsurou snapped back. “I haven’t made him keep living at our place, he is capable of making his decision on his own. Don’t try to put this on me.”

With that, he grabbed his pitcher and took a big sip of his beer. The now warm liquid running through his throat wasn’t the distraction he desired, but one he needed.

To not having to answer another question, he decided to inspect the interior of the restaurant and his eyes fell at the entrance. Tetsurou didn’t know if he wished he had looked past Akaashi’s head or simply carried on with the interrogation. The moment he paid attention to the restaurant’s door opening, his heart skipped a beat and then proceeded to beat faster.

The lights may be dim, and the reddish interior was strong to possibly be wrong, but Tetsurou was certain that the man entering the local was the one he was searching for two weeks.

This time, Sawamura was obviously not wearing his professional attire- he would have noticed if there was a fire nearby. Instead, his clothing consisted of dark blue, maybe washed-out jeans, a mauve pullover, and a dark green jacket. Sawamura did not seem like a fashion disaster, but something about his outfit was screaming that he didn’t care about wearing clothes which would match together, which made Tetsurou grin in amusement.

He really considered getting up and going over the man he was having eyes for (and maybe making fun of his choice of colours) when he felt his mouth becoming dry. A thick knot was forming in his throat and he had a hard time swallowing.

Behind Sawamura was another man. Slightly shorter than him, with prominent silver hair and Tetsurou wondered if that was his natural hair colour. But then again, Bokuto’s hair was a mixture between grey and black-

The other person wore a light blue jean jacket with a white shirt underneath. As Tetsurou was scanning him, he noticed something else which made his heart stop.

Their arms were locked together. Tetsurou couldn’t decide if he preferred that gesture or them holding hands. But it was enough to assume that Sawamura and his companion were more than friends.

Especially when the grey-haired person started to laugh at something Sawamura had said and slapped his arm several times, while they were headed to their seats. It was already occupied by another person with long brown hair and glasses on his nose, but Tetsurou’s gaze didn’t leave the arrived guest’s movements.

“Kuroo-san why are you staring so absentmindedly?” Akaashi’s voice had finally reached his ears, they were probably talking for a while until they finally noticed that Tetsurou wasn’t patting attention to them.

And because he didn’t want Akaashi and especially not Bokuto to see the reason his evening of his now ruined evening, Tetsurou averted his gaze from Sawamura and his friends and stared at his watch.

“I think we should leave this place”, he announced. Before the couple across of him could start protesting- he was already seeing Bokuto trying to convince him to change his mind and just enjoy their evening for a longer period- he added: “At least I’m going home. Just remembered that I have some work left on the table which needed to be done until tomorrow.”

“But Kuroo, you said you haven’t any projects until the end of October, what do you mean?”, Bokuto, his traitorous best friend responded. Because he knew his best friend and that he was about to ask more questions and eventually start pouting; Tetsurou simply stood up.

“Fine. I just want to leave; I’ll see you later.”

With that, he grabbed his walled, placed the amount of money he spent on his meal on the table and with another nod, he was already leaving the table.

* * *

The reason Tetsurou wanted to stay in his apartment and endure the daily headache including the horrible smell and the rarely moments of eating properly were simple.

He found the fireman, who spend his time with him and Bokuto and endured their chaotic antics, endearing. On top of Sawamura being handsome, even in his official clothing, he seemed like a kind man, who also took no shit from anyone. Someone, who liked to be in charge of things yet presented himself as the kind of leader who would never abuse their power or pretend, they’re better than anyone else.

These were all assumptions, and Tetsurou really wanted to confirm some of his theories by getting to know him better. At least, that was until another, unpleasant hypothesis kept pestering his mind.

The image of the silver-haired companion has already burned into his brain and liked to pop up whenever he thought about Sawamura. His laugh, the way he clung on his arms, the way the guy was the one that got Sawamura’s fond stare- Tetsurou couldn’t decide whether it was unfair or not.

And he knew he couldn’t simply assume that Sawamura was off the market. There was still the possibility of the guy being his friend or even a relative. Still, he decided to finally do his health a favour and move out.

The reason Tetsurou insisted on staying at their apartment was Sawamura. When the fire occurred yet the man arrived late and without a vehicle, he concluded that Sawamura must live nearby. A risky theory which he still liked to confirm whether he was right or not.

But that didn’t matter anymore, as there was the possibility of Sawamura being off limits. And now Tetsurou didn’t have the time to think about it, he would reserve the thoughts for later, after the day was over.

Today was the day Bokuto was officially moving out of their place. with it was now the end of their era. It had been planned way before the incident, and Bokuto was not supposed to move to Osaka until two months later, but things had happened. Now, Tetsurou had to say goodbye to his best friend sooner than he liked.

He still wasn’t ready for only seeing Bokuto lesser than before, he was so accustomed to get a glimpse of him every day. Although the moment was inevitable the minute, he signed the contract and joined the MSBY Black Jackals which had their residence in Osaka, he still liked to think his moving was far away and wouldn’t happen in the next few months.

But well, now Tetsurou busied himself with carrying some of Bokuto’s cartons into the big truck they had rented and groaned when he finally felt his arms become lighter after placing them into the vehicle.

To see how all his belongings wandered into the boxes and get transported into the truck made his heart clench for the umpteenth time of the day. He knew Bokuto felt the same, having to leave both his best friend and partner had not been an easy decision for him. But the desire for playing for the Jackals was equally big, Tetsurou and Akaashi knew that. There was no point in trying to keep him away from doing the thing their owl loved.

The sound of Bokuto heaving his belongings behind Tetsurou made him stop this ongoing trail of the thoughts. He turned around, his eyes scanning the massive biceps of his best friend which he was obviously flexing. The tank top did a good work outlining the muscles and the fact that Bokuto was carrying the boxes on his arms was probably enough to make people around them swoon over the glorious sight.

At least Akaashi looked like they were about to pass out any seconds. They badly tried to hide their obvious staring at their boyfriend’s muscles by hiding their head behind the box they were carrying, but Tetsurou still saw the reddened face and their trebling arms. And he was certain it was not because the carton was heavy.

Bokuto looked just so appealing, Tetsurou was willing to admit. Without putting much effort into today’s clothing, which just consisted of the black tank top and the grey shorts, he still managed to accentuate his notable arms and thighs.

While he probably didn’t think much about what to wear today, considering they had to deal with dust dirt and the unwelcome accompanied smell of old furniture and smoke, it was enough to set Akaashi over the edge. Especially since Bokuto did also make the decision of not gelling his hair up, making him appear a bit younger and appealing.

Tetsurou bit his lip to suppress the laugh that was threatening to come out and decided to observe his best friend loading his belongings into the vehicle. After turning around and seeing his partner being flustered, Tetsurou realised keeping himself together was more difficult than he thought.

Bokuto ran over to Akaashi, apparently thinking that the box was too heavy for them and they would break down under the massive weight. No wonder his face became surprised when trying to grab for the carton, Akaashi refused to hand it over.

“Keiji, why are you shaking so much”, Bokuto inquired them, making another attempt at trying to take the carton.

“Your face is so red! Are you having a fewer right now? I mean, I did tell you you’ve dressed wrongly for today’s occasion.”

That was too much for Tetsurou, Bokuto’s innocent question was the breaking point for him. He broke into a raucous laughter which was accompanied with chocking noises and increased in volume as he went on.

Tetsurou deliberately ignored Akaashi’s murderous and Bokuto’s confused stare. Coming to think of it- it wasn’t even that hilarious, he had experienced situations more hysterical- but deep down he knew he needed that fresh moment of relief.

All the events that occurred in the past weeks had definitely left their marks on Tetsurou. The stress, people nagging on him, the newest development with Sawamura- it was bottling so much inside of him, he had forgotten to actually laugh about things. To not take certain situations seriously or giving too many thoughts into it.

So, to laugh freely at something seemingly stupid was a fresh breath of air.

“What are you howling so loud for”, Kenma asked in exasperation. He suddenly appeared next to Bokuto, who finally seemed to get the current situation and winked at his partner. While Akaashi’s already darker complexion turned more crimson, Bokuto snorted and Tetsurou threw another laughing fit, Kenma’s gaze remained unimpressed.

“I thought something was going on outside, given the fact no one has bothered to come back again. Kuro, I’m not taking any of these heavy boxes, so would you please come get them?”

“Sure, sure”, Tetsurou replied with the slightly raspy voice he had gained. He cleared his throat and added: “But you know, you still could have brought at least something down here if you’re making the effort of searching us.”

Kenma shrugged. “Wasn’t the deal. I’m just supposed to put Bokuto’s non-heavy stuff into the carton.”

Tetsurou sighed. Getting Kenma to help them during the moving process was a difficult task to do. In his eyes, the whole procedure was something that would leave him exhausted, and he was already busy with his jobs. At the end though, his best friend only agreed to it with the promise that Tetsurou would finally leave the apartment as well and move in with him.

“Wait, isn’t that the one guy- what was his name again, I keep forgetting it”, Bokuto suddenly exclaimed. His forefinger was pointing at Tetsurou’s direction. It halted every action everyone was previously doing, as they all tuned around to find out who Bokuto had recognised.

And there he was, this time wearing cyan shorts and yellow shirt (seriously, did he really not care about composition?), with no bag in his hand or back. It indicated that Sawamura was again on a break, likely without the accompaniment of the silver/haired guy. So far, so good.

Sawamura had not noticed them yet, and Tetsurou preferred if it would stay like that. Sadly, Bokuto was not having one of it and completely ignored the hissed: “Don’t disturb him! Just let him do what he had planned for himself!”

Bokuto put two fingers into his mouth and produced a loud whistle with them. Tetsurou tried his best to not let his best friend doing anything that would get the fireman’s attention, but it was too late. Bokuto’s loud exclamation of “Yo! Long-time, no see!” could’ve probably been heard five streets away.

Tetsurou wanted the ground to devour him. The hope that Sawamura would probably just ignore Bokuto and assume that the loud owl was greeting someone else got destroyed, when he stopped right in the spot and stared at their direction.

Few seconds passed and Sawamura finally smiled in recognition. Tetsurou felt like his knees were becoming weak by the sudden change on his face, especially since he just knew that the man’s smile was genuine.

“Hello guys!” Sawamura greeted after he had reached them. And boy, did he look good. Tetsurou forgot about the mismatching colours and thought instead how good the constellation made him look. But seriously the man could just wear the most boring colours in the universe and would still manage to rock it.

Since Tetsurou was occupied with staring at Sawamura, Bokuto took the initiative of starting a conversation.

“What’s up?”, he asked.

“Nothing much. I was just strolling around the neighbourhood, that’s what I’m doing when things get too tight at my place. I assume you’re going to leave the place?”

“Yup! Well, just me. I’m moving to Osaka!”

Can I also get a moment to talk with Sawamura, Tetsurou internally asked. The way him and Bokuto started to chat about pleasant things to visit in Osaka and how he was going to feel leaving Tokyo behind- all of it while Tetsurou stood dumbly next to him, made him fill with envy.

He wanted to chat with the man he was crushing on. He wanted to be the reason he elicited the occasional grin and even a beautiful laughter of Sawamura. He wanted-

“Seems like I don’t know the guy, but the same can’t be said about you, Kuro.” Kenma nudged his side and as Tetsurou was staring at him in a questioned manner, he added: “I finally know the reason you refused to take my offer.”

“I don’t know what you’re implying, but get that thought out of your mind”, Tetsurou scoffed back.

“You did stare at him like you wanted him to smooch you though”, Akaashi, the ever so helpful person said. Them and Kenma exchange a knowing glance and Tetsurou wished again the earth to open and reclaim him.

“Did not”, he tried to disagree.

“Did to”, Kenma bit back.

“Did not.”

“Did to.”

“Are you done?”, Akaashi interjected again. “If yes, can we now find out who your mystery man is?”

“Eh? Worried he might snatch your lover away?”, Tetsurou teased.

“Shut up, Kuroo-san. I’m not insecure about worrying that someone is going to take the person who clearly loves me. Why are you like this?”

Tetsurou was glad that Bokuto didn’t hear his partner’s previous sentence. He knew how it went, the two would have exchanged sappy and gross declarations of love and he wasn’t sure if he really needed to hear them right now.

In order to escape from the knowingly stares and possible following question, Tetsurou cleared his throat loudly. Bokuto and Sawamura finally remembered they weren’t alone, and as the latter was now staring at him, Tetsurou’s body got filled with the need of grabbing the other’s hand and dragging him into the next Izakaya. The others could clearly handle the rest of the move by themselves.

The way Sawamura’s gaze lingered on Tetsurou, almost as if he was trying to convey a message to him. Something among the lines of longing, and-

Before Tetsurou could even start fantasising about the possible and most preferred outcome, the image of the silver-haired person was suddenly appearing in his head. Of course, the image that had burned into his mind was disrupting his peaceful thinking of Sawamura again. And with that, he was back in the reality, shifting his look away from the other man.

“By the way, since you haven’t met them before, these two are our friends Kozume Kenma and Akaashi Keiji. Guys, that’s the firefighter Bokuto and I were telling you about, that’s Sawamura- I still don’t know your given name.”

“Daichi.” The response came almost immediately, almost as if he tried to clear the brief awkward moment they had shared. Sawamura had also stopped staring at him intensely and was now facing the friends.

 _Daichi_ , Tetsurou repeated in his head. Of course, he carried a name like that, a beautiful name for a beautiful man.

While the rest kept exchanging pleasantries, Tetsurou clapped his hands as another way to get everyone’s attention.

“It’s nice seeing you all hitting so well, but we still have to carry a lot of Bokuto’s stuff into the truck. It’s not going to fill themselves. Let’s go! The sooner we finish it, the better.”

“Why are you talking like one of these motivational speakers”, Kenma grumbled.

“I feel like you’re using the wrong term on me, but let’s just go with that”, Tetsurou replied. He put his hands on the smaller guys’ back and pushed him towards the massive building. Once inside, he realised the difference of the heat, the air seemed much fresher and cleaner than outside, which he hadn’t noticed before. Being too focused on carrying all the things outside really had its effect.

When Tetsurou turned around to Bokuto to inform him about the observation, he stared right into Sawamura’s eyes. And because he certainly had not expected the other to accompany them, he stopped his movements and was prominently face to face with him.

“Why are you looking so surprised”, the fireman asked then.

“Can you blame me? I thought you just left to wherever you needed to go to!” Only after voicing that sentence, he realised that Sawamura had not bid his farewell until now. It seemed unlikely for him to do so, Tetsurou was giving him that.

“I asked Bokuto if I could help you guys out with the moving and he said yes”, Sawamura explained nonchalantly. “I don’t have any plans for today and it was you, who stated the sooner all of this gets finished, the better. Or do you have any complaints about me helping you out?”

“Of course not, why would I have anything against your kindness?”, Tetsurou answers with the sweetest smile he could offer. “Thank you, by the way.”

He didn’t miss the knowing stares Kenma, Bokuto and Akaashi were exchanging and since he knew a simple glare was not going to change the wiggled eyebrows, the smirks and the whispering, he simply turned around and headed for the elevator.

Bokuto was obviously the only one taking the stairs as usual, dragging Akaashi with him. Kenma looked with distaste at the disappearing two, before pressing the button for the elevator.

“I’m not doing this again”, Sawamura mumbled and halted next to Tetsurou. “Though I have to admit, Bokuto carrying me was something I’d like to experience again.”

Tetsurou shrugged. “Perks of being broad as Bokuto, I guess.”

“So, how are things going for you once Bokuto has officially moved out?“, Sawamura asked after the three of them entered the elevator. While Kenma has put his phone out of his pocket to busy himself with the device, Sawamura leaned himself towards Tetsurou. Too close, he thought, and he was asking himself if the fireman was doing things on purpose.

After the latter had regained the composure to not hand out an answer which would put everyone into an awkward situation, he replied: “I’m going to move in with Kenma in about one week. Mainly because he would finally stop pestering me about leaving the place.”

“Every sane person would have moved out the second a fire occurs, but you need to think you need to play the hero or something?”, Kenma huffed, “but well, since I know the reason for your weird behaviour, I give you a pass.”

“What does he mean?”, Sawamura asked, his head tilted to the side. While looking genuinely curious, Tetsurou still thought the other man had figured everything out. But that would be ridiculous, right

Fortunately, the lift has reached its destination and therefore saved him from answering. Tetsurou quickly left the elevator to practically run to their apartment, only to find Bokuto and Akaashi laying on the sofa, making out passionately.

Tetsurou already assumed that was the picture he would get after entering their home, also their shoes being haphazardly taken off had given any clues. But still, that didn’t mean he wasn’t surprised seeing them occupying their couch like that.

“Unbelievable”, he mumbled while shaking his hand. Tetsurou scrunched his face when the evident of the loud kissing noises became more prominent the more he was getting near to them, with Kenma and Sawamura behind him. They also stared at the lovingly couple, Kenma just sighed, while the latter had a fond expression on his face.

“I get it”, he commented. “They’re about to see each other lesser than before so it’s naturally for them to get all sappy.”

“While we’re obligated to take out Bokuto’s boxes?”, Tetsurou scoffed back. “Also, Kenma, we need to extend our deal. Since two certain people are occupied, you’re going the help us.”

“The fact I was somehow expecting this doesn’t make me feel better”, Kenma sighed again, but still turned his device off and lead the way to Bokuto’s room.

* * *

Even without the help of the couple, the three managed to get things quickly done. At some point Sawamura had the genius idea of simply putting as many boxes as possible in the elevator, so they were saving their time of having to go up and down multiple times. That concept was taken well by Kenma.

While they were back downstairs and asked other residents to help them loading the cartons into the truck, Tetsurou couldn’t help to steal more than one glances from Sawamura, who seemed to attract people the same way Bokuto did. There really was something about beefy men, but also thinner men get their fair share of attention.

Tetsurou was also aware of the stares he sometimes got from unfamiliar people or neighbours living in the house. While being not as broad as Bokuto and Sawamura, he was still able to impress bystanders with his muscles. Thanks to him occasionally playing volleyball with his friend in the park and Bokuto dragging everyone to take the stairs, he still had a good portion of beefiness people were fawning over.

But Sawamura... dear Lord, that man was gorgeous. Even when his bright shirt was darkening due to him sweating, faint drops running through his face and some strands of hair sticking to it. He still managed to look fucking beautiful and Tetsurou tried to keep himself together from not blurting it out.

Him and Kenma also were sweating as well- which was a given since constantly carrying heaving boxes while the sun was brutally shining was not the perfect combination during a moving. But better than snow or even worse- rain.

“As soon as the whole ordeal is over, I’ll be the first one occupying your shower”, Kenma demanded after he carried another box to load into the truck. His face was even redder than the blushes of the bystanders, and that surely meant something.

“I knew you would say that”, Tetsurou grinned back. “How about we’re getting revenge on Bokuto and Akaashi for ditching us?”

“I don’t think I have the motivation to think about a solid plan, but maybe your lover boy likes to plot something with you?”

Tetsurou was sure his face was now the most crimson out of everyone.

* * *

Bokuto and Akaashi did come back at shone point, and Tetsurou was ready to tease them- he assumed they probably decided to have spontaneous sex while their friends busied themselves with the moving, when he noticed Akaashi’s reddened eyes. The words died on his lips and his mind was quickly followed with the worst possible outcome that would happen to the sweet couple.

“Don’t tell me you’ve broken up”, was the first thing Tetsurou said to them. Apparently, the wrong thing because Akaashi gave him a harsh glare, almost offended by the question he asked.

“How dare you! What’s up with you and thinking we’re going to end our relationship?”

“You did cry”, Tetsurou bit back. “If you don’t want people questioning your appearance, you should try to hide it better.”

Akaashi was about to retort something back when they just gave up and directed their head to the sky. Their expression became sombre, and Tetsurou was preparing himself to hear some bad news the second time.

“It just hit me that I’m going to see Koutarou less than I preferred. And for a short moment, I had the fear of him growing so accustomed to his new life in Osaka that he’ll eventually forget about me.“

Tetsurou exhaled.

“So, you’re actually capable of saying obtuse things”, he mumbled. “Are you out if your mind? The last thing Bokuto would do is to end his relationship with the person he loves the most! While I get where you’re coming from, we all can assure that you’ll keep being a huge presence in his life.”

Akaashi turned away to hide their face, but Tetsurou knew that the other had taken his glasses off to wipe the tears away. They rarely get emotional, he was sure of that, so Tetsurou understood why they preferred to not let him see their tears. But still, he wanted to let the other know that they didn’t need to hide their emotions from him.

So Tetsurou just patted their back a few times and said: “I’m sure Bokuto has told you the same things, so there is no need for me to give you a speech. While I get why you had these thoughts in the first place, I am sure everything is going to turn out fine!”

“Thank you, Kuroo-san”, Akaashi sniffed. “I appreciate your rare moments of being a pain in the ass.”

“Now calm down”, Tetsurou huffed. “But if you’re going to feel this way again, do not hesitate to either contact me or Kenma.”

“I think my most preferred option is to call Koutarou, but I will take your offer nonetheless.”

This time, Tetsurou didn’t bother with an answer, but decided to ruffle Akaashi’s hair instead. While they were complaining about their hair being messier than usual and not wanting to compete with Tetsurou’s bedhead, his eyes were now searching for something else. As soon as he found Sawamura, he felt his heart skipping a beat.

He was standing between Bokuto and Kenma and it looked like they were currently engaged in an intense conversation. The truck next to Bokuto was now closed, meaning that every single carton filles with Bokuto’s belongings had left their shared apartment and would make their way to his new one. Tetsurou’s heart was clenching again, but the reason wasn’t a blissful one this time.

It just meant that Bokuto was about to leave soon and Tetsurou still didn’t think he was ready for that.

As he was approaching the three, he could make out the bits and pieces about their current conversation. While trying to not show his interest in an obvious way, he still liked to know what topic had made the three people who apparently have nothing in coming, exchange their words this actively.

“It really is a shame we have never faced each other in high school”, Sawamura said. “It would have been an honour to play against a powerhouse school like yours! Plus, you would have gotten to see our interesting way of playing the game- or let’s say, my former underclassman’s weird quick.”

Bokuto nodded with so much vigour that Tetsurou was almost thinking the guy was about to lose his head. Behind him, he heard the faint chuckle of Akaashi’s.

“I’m always interested in playing against strong teams! But I still get to face so many powerful opponents, so maybe I’m going to meet some of your former teammates?”

“You did say were a member of Karasuno high school, right?”, Kenma chimed in. “I feel like I finally know why your name sounded so familiar, Sawamura-san. You were Shouyou’s captain, right? And now he’s playing in Bokuto-sans team, what are the odds?”

"Who is Shouyou?”, Tetsurou asked, while Bokuto and Sawamura audibly gasped. Within seconds, the four of them were yelling, gesticulating, and making funny expressions, until Akaashi had enough and put themselves in the middle, demanding everyone to be silent.

“This is why we can’t have nice things”, they sighed. “Except trying to listen to the other, you try to overshadow each other. I am going to take the lead and connect the dots. That Shouyou person is Sawamura-sans former underclassmen and volleyball teammate, Koutarou’s newest teammate and Kozume’s friend, right? How hard was it to decipher this information from what you have shared?”

“No need to get so sassy, Akaashi”, Tetsurou grinned, before he turned his head to Kenma. “So, my dear best friend. How come this is the first time I’m hearing about this Shouyou person?”

He relished in the fact that Kenma’s cheeks turned pink and that he looked like he wanted to escape the current conversation as soon as possible. Tetsurou started to wonder if the unfamiliar person was the same one Kenma was vaguely mentioning before today and his grin became wider.

“You didn’t ask”, was the only response he got from Kenma.

“How am I supposed to know if you didn’t even bother to inform me about your newest relationship in the first place?”

“Relationship? I think you are mistaking something. We are just friends.”

Kenma’s whole face turning red didn’t support his statement in the slightest.

While Tetsurou tried his best to literally pull any details about Hinata Shouyou from him (“-So you guys are even on first name basis?” “-Please, Kuro, shut up.”) he couldn’t help but to feel proud of Kenma for befriending another person without his assistance. Apart from that, he really came far with his current business, college graduation and his gaming channel. For the second time of the day, Tetsurou was messing someone’s hair up, this time it was Kenma’s.

* * *

Tetsurou, Kenma and Sawamura watched the truck leaving the street, with it Bokuto and Akaashi who had decided to accompany their boyfriend.

It was a heartfelt farewell, with Tetsurou launching into Bokuto’s arms while the other was holding him close, a lot of tears being spent and the reminder of making themselves available as often as they could- which they both knew was difficult at first, but they’re going to make it. Same with Akaashi, especially when they promised to try to visit each other every weekend. They are all going to make their best out of it.

Bokuto demanded Sawamura to give him his phone number so they could also exchange message whenever they liked. Tetsurou found himself being fascinated how easy it seemed for the former to talk to him properly. But then again, Bokuto was not the one with the apparent obvious crush on the fireman and didn’t need to fear of embarrassing himself.

Kenma gave Bokuto a cube-like package with the question of handing it over to Hinata- which led to Tetsurou making fun of his best friend for making the effort of creating a present in the first place.

“Ah, young love”, Sawamura sighed. “I would really like to experience those kinds of feelings again.”

With that, whatever Tetsurou had wanted to say to Kenma next, got immediately replaced with another question which he hesitated to let out, while his mind was producing many thoughts. What about the silver-haired person? Wasn’t Sawamura already seeing someone? How was Tetsurou supposed to ask him the crucial question without making it obvious he was interested in his dating stadium? Especially since he could already feel Kenma’s teasing words. It was always going back and forth with them.

“I take it you’re not seeing someone? You really look like someone who would be in a stable relationship”, Kenma asked him.

“Yeah, looking like or being actually in a relationship are two different things”, Sawamura shrugged. “But no, I’m currently not in one, I’m to occupied with my current work and still trying to get adjusted to Tokyo life.

Kuroo, why are you grinning like that?”

“Yeah, Kuro, how about you answer Sawamura’s question”, his best friend added, his face hinting that he was enjoying the very moment right now. The glare Tetsurou was sending him didn’t wipe the grin off his face at all, but apart from that- he felt like Sawamura knew what was going on anyway. Or he was just good at pointing certain things out, but these were thoughts for another time.

The fact that Sawamura was not in a relationship made things not being worthless, like the questionable decision of his to stay in their apartment. Tetsurou knew listening to his gut would pay off- ignoring the period when he thought Sawamura was already dating.

He was allowed to feel happy, wasn’t he?

So that’s why instead of answering Sawamura’s question, he just used his hand to wave something imaginary off and said: “How about you give me your number too?”

Sawamura blinked for a few seconds- and Tetsurou was ready to think he was going to face rejection- when the fireman responded with “Sure.”

And when Tetsurou and Kenma noticed that it was now his turn to blush, they decided to not say anything about it. Instead, they counted the sight as win for Tetsurou.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> Fun fact: the title of this fic is from Queen's "Good Company" and every time I open this fic, I'm humming the song in my head.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Criticism is highly appreciated.  
> I'll try to write chapter two as quickly as possible. Until then, I'm wishing you guys a happy new year!
> 
> Visit my Twitter/Tumblr: natletta.


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